Easy Troubleshooting to Bring HP Printer Online from Offline

To print a document or image you need a printer equipped with good quality toner such as this hp 953xl multipack. While trying to print a document, the basic step is to give the print command and then select your printer to print the document. This process is not easy as it looks as sometimes even after connecting the printer properly to the computer; it shows offline and stops printing. Under such circumstances, you will not be able to get the document printed till the time the printer is not online. Printer Technicians will gladly help when your printer is having problems, but if you need a company with a faster response time then you should hire managed it services. Moreover, the issue can arise with any brand of the printer such as Brother, Canon, Epson, or HP. So if your hp printer is offline, no need to worry as it is a common scenario and can be corrected if troubleshot properly.

In this article, you will read about the causes that make a printer offline and how to get printer online.

Reasons of an Offline Printer

The printer can go offline-

1. If there is a connection error between your device and printer.
2. Cables are not correctly attached.
3. There is a paper jam not letting the printer print making it offline.
4. There is an issue with the printer driver or software.
5. The printer has gone outdated or you haven’t installed updates for it.

So if you were wondering why is my HP printer offline; I think you have got the answer. 

Fixing Offline Printer Error

Now to bring your printer online from offline, here are some troubleshooting steps that you can do on your own:

• Checking the Cable and the Printer

It is the first step and you must check that if the printer cables and the other cables required for printing are properly connected or not. If they aren’t then it can make the printer go offline. 

• Insert the USB cables rightly. 
• If you have a networked printer, the Ethernet cable must be properly inserted.
• For wireless printers, check your internet and it must be connected to the router.

You can even try using a different cable to ensure that it is not the culprit

• Set the Printer Online Manually

Sometimes the printer shows offline even when it is properly connected and is online. In such cases, you can simply get it back online manually using the given steps:

• Click on the Start menu of your computer and go to the Control Panel.
• Go to the ‘Devices and Printers’ section and right-click on your printing device.
• Then select ‘See what’s printing’ 

• A window will open from where you can choose your printer from the menu bar.
• A drop-down menu will show up, click ‘Use Printer Online’.

• Clear the Pending Jobs

The next step is to free your printer from all the print jobs that is lying pending there using the given steps:

• Click on the Start menu of your computer and go to the Control Panel.
• Go to the ‘Devices and Printers’ section and right-click on your printing device.
• Then select ‘See what’s printing’, right-click and ‘Cancel’ all the jobs that you see there. 
• After removing the print jobs, click on ‘Use Printer Online’ and try restarting both your computer and printer. 

• Reinstall the Printer

You can even try reinstalling the printer and then check if it shows online. To reinstall the printer:

• Go to the ‘Printers and Devices’ section via Control Panel.
• Right-click on your printer and click on the option ‘Remove Device’.

• Now, you can add it again by clicking on the ‘Add a printer’ option.

• Remove the Printer Driver and Software

Even the driver and software installed for your printer can be responsible for getting it offline and if this is the case, you can remove them and reinstall them later.

• Open the search box and type in CMD
• The command prompt will open where you have to type ‘printui /s /t2’ and it will open the Print server properties window. 
• Remove the driver and software of your HP printer.
• After some time, add the latest version of the driver and software for your printer and check if the error got fixed.

• Further Troubleshooting

This method can also be applied if all the above methods weren’t helpful for you:

• Go to the settings corner of your device and click on ‘Printers’.
• Right-click your HP printer and then select ‘Use printer online’.
• Clear all the pending printing tasks 
• Double-click on your printer, select printer menu, and hit ‘Cancel all documents’.
• Check if your printer is free from any paper jam.

After applying the troubleshooting steps, make sure to restart all the devices related to printing, and this way you can bring your HP printer offline to online. You can also print a test page to check if it shows online and there is no further printing error.